Michel Henry's theory of the subjective body: contributions to a contemporary phenomenology of the body

Authors

Abstract

This article aims to expose some fundamental elements of the French philosopher Michel Henry’s thinking about the body, which he identifies with subjectivity. The fundamental concepts considered are effort, movement, habit, and memory, which permits to define the body as a transcendental knowledge and experience. Most of these concepts derived from Henry’s studies on Maine de Biran but with a particular emphasis, relating them with his notion of the body as the pathos of living flesh. Henry’s concept of the body can contribute with crucial elements to the actual discussions in social sciences, in areas such as gender, work, violence, the construction of self-image and social stereotypes, health care, among others.

Keywords:

subjectivity, body, flesh, movement, memory